2014 Austin Food and Wine Interviews with Andrew Zimmern, Chris Sheppard, and Sarah Grueneberg

The next set of interviews are quite interesting and diverse.  I asked the following chefs, How do you define a food destination?  How does Austin stack up?

 

Andrew Zimmern said that Austin’s food scene is already out of control, in a good way.  “There’s so much good food in this town.  There’s certain cities in the world that being experienced at is okay by the consumer.  You have so many artists, bands, and college students.  Those are typically groups of people who don’t mind being experimented at.  Snooty 50 year old suburban folks in Midwestern cities don’t like being experimented at.  San Francisco is the only big city in America that its okay.  Even in New York, they don’t like that.  In New York, you have to be good right out of the box.  It is so competitive.  Here, you can not be good and still be successful.”

Andrew Zimmern with Graham Elliot and Merlin Verrier at the Food Republic interviews.  
 

In short, Austin is special.  It is a great place for entrepreneurs and creative types to master their art and build a large audience.  That is quite an interesting perspective.  Austinites are okay with experiments, or dishes that don't wow. 

Chris Sheppard with Jamie Zelko.

 

Chris Sheppard of Underbelly says it comes down to "chefs doing what they want to do...... and people and communities feeding what they want to do.  They don’t care what I want to do.  They are feeling their communities.  What they want to cooking for their people."

 

Sarah Grueneberg with her crew at the 2013 Austin Food and Wine Festival Rock Your Taco. 

I really love Sarah Grueneberg.  She's from a small coastal town in Texas too, and it is exciting to see someone from I could identify with become a huge star. Sarah Grueneberg's definition of a food destination is "A town with that’s full of chefs and restaurants searching for great products and cooking foods they like.  They cook what they want to cook.  I want to see that.  I want to see what style the chefs are trying to show.”  If chefs are a little too out there with their dishes, they can try small plates or send experimental dishes to tables who have already order some pretty solid classic dishes.  Go out there and describe it.  It is about trusting the chef.  For diners, I think when they have lived with a chef on television, they are more willing to trust the new chefs.  They will be more willing to try things like sweetbreads."

Taste of Texas @AustinFoodWine 2012

This year is different.  This year is the first year that FOOD & WINE and C3 are presenting what used to be the Hill Country Wine and Food Festival.  In addition to a different structure to the festival this year, there are some unfamiliar faces coming to play.  Thursday night kicked off with the Live Fire event by the Austin Food and Wine Alliance.  It was a pretty awesome event last year, complete with wildlife.  It was also the first time I had ever put the heavenly Franklin's barbeque in my mouth.  I was sad to miss it this year due to that day job, which happened to have evening hours this semester.  A big thanks to the festival for inviting me as a media guest, and a big thanks to KitchenaidUSA and Whirlpool for providing a pass for my photographer.

The first event of the Austin Food and Wine Festival was the Friday night Taste of Texas event.  Special guests chefs this years included:

• Tim Bryes (SMOKE, Dallas)
• David Bull (Congress, Second Bar + Kitchen, Austin)
• Jason Dady (Jason Dady Restaurants, San Antonio)
• Aaron Franklin (Franklin Barbecue, Austin)
• Bryce Gilmore (Barley Swine, Austin)
• Sarah Grueneberg (Top Chef Texas, Spiaggia, Chicago)
• Rene Ortiz (La Condesa, Napa, Austin)
• Monica Pope (T’afia, Houston)
• Paul Qui (Top Chef Texas, Uchiko, Austin)
• Philip Speer (Uchi/Uchiko, Austin)
• Laura Sawicki (La Condesa, Austin)
• Gabe Thompson (dell’anima, New York City)
• Andrew Weissman (Sandbar, Il Sogno Osteria, San Antonio)
• Nate Wales (La Condesa, Austin).

Just prior to the festival, Josh Ozersky had a Colonel Sanders and the American Dream book signing at Lucy's Fried Chicken. A big thanks to UT Press, Lucy's Fried Chicken and Austin Beer Works for the crunchy chicken afternoon. 

This was on one of the tables at the festival.  I thought it was pretty darn interesting. 

This festival also marked the anniversary of when I first had Franklin BBQ.  Happy Franklin BBQ Anniversary to me! 

As you can see, the Barbecue Jesus draws a line of disciplines where ever he goes. 

@TimBrynes brought an amazing show of three whole porkers.  This is just one of the babies. 

Here's Laura Sawicki's dessert.  That woman is a genius, and her pastry chef of the year honor is well deserved.  If you see her, give her a hug and eat her dessert!

@ChefSarahJayne Grueneberg brought mackerel on grilled pumpernickel toast with black almond tapenade.  Salty + crunchy = win!

And here's the lovely chef!

Here's Chef @MonicaPope and Chef Stephen Cash.  I loved her offering of mushroom dumplings!

And what's a wine festival without Devon Brogile (@dbrogues) of Whole Foods?  Nothing, I say. Nothing.

This was a really interesting and entertaining station.  Chef Gabe Thompson of @Lartusi cooks up pork belly on a griddle using bricks as a makeshift stove.  That's so Texas.  That's also so awesome!